Haney says she's trained all her employees to look for fake
money by noticing a few tell-tale signs.

"Fake money is actually kind of waxy, or it's smeared,
smudged. There are a lot of imperfections on it," she said. "You can spot it
really well if you know what you're looking for."

Haney and her cashiers even have a track record to prove
their accuracy.

"We have had some try to be passed," she said. "As soon as
you kind of question it, people will grab it and run, but it's been a couple of
years."

Now more than ever, the Independence County Sheriff's Office
hopes other businesses will be just as vigilant as the T Mart to check all the
cash they receive.

"It's going to take everybody stepping up and checking and
stuff because it's getting out of hand real quick," said Investigator Jeff
Sims.

He says in the past month alone, people have tried passing
off smaller bills as real. Last week, he recovered a fake one dollar bill – the
only one he's ever seen in the area.

"The chance you take for passing a counterfeit one dollar
bill of going to federal prison or being charged with a Class B felony is
pretty ridiculous," Sims said.

Officers even took in a fake $10 bill on Tuesday. The
frequency of these incidents has indicated one thing to detectives, Sims says.

"We charged a lot of people last year, probably 10 or 15
that we charged with counterfeit money from hundreds to twenties and tens," he
said. "Maybe they're going to smaller bills hoping that they won't be detected
and be checked."

He can at least count on Haney to keep checking for fake
money.

"I'm ready," she said. "You bring it here, we're calling the
police and we have 16 cameras. We'll get you."

Independence County investigators claim they're not the only
ones dealing with fake money problems right now. Sims says just about every
surrounding county has also taken in more reports recently about counterfeit
cash.

The Poplar Bluff R-1 School district now offers free breakfast and lunch this year to all students, grades pre-K through third, in an effort to help ensure children are receiving the proper nutrition throughout the school day.

The Poplar Bluff R-1 School district now offers free breakfast and lunch this year to all students, grades pre-K through third, in an effort to help ensure children are receiving the proper nutrition throughout the school day.